What is a Fresh 48?
Fresh 48 is a term photographers use on their websites and marketing, but as I was talking to a client recently, I realized that most people don't know what a fresh 48 is! So I'm here to break it down for you.
When you have a baby, there are almost endless ways to document it. You can get birth photography or videography (photos or video of the actual birth), pictures in the hospital taken by a professional, pictures in the hospital taken by the on-staff photographer, an in-home newborn session, or a posed newborn session in a studio with props and wraps. I offer in-hospital newborn sessions and in-home newborn sessions. My in-home newborn sessions usually happen when the baby is between 2-3 weeks old. They are easy, relaxed, and we go at the pace of your new family. The baby is in natural poses that they put themselves into, and it's all very life-like, albeit styled (hence the term 'lifestyle photography') with no props or wraps beyond a simple swaddle.
In addition to that in-home session, I also offer in-hospital mini sessions. These, my friends, are Fresh 48s.
They got their name because you are getting the baby fresh, in it's first 48 hours of life. I come to spend time with you in the hospital (usually 30-45 minutes depending on if we need breaks for breastfeeding, etc), and we get all of the pictures you could only get in the hospital. Many women are concerned with what they look like after birth, but I can tell you from experience that you will absolutely not care what you looked like 10 years later. I promise, though, that you will treasure the images of your hospital stay. It's such a blur, and frankly, I barely remember mine. Those images of my daughters, though, all wrapped up in their hospital blankets and hats, ugh, they get me every time!
What I always recommend is coupling a Fresh 48 with a newborn session. That way, you get the baby fresh out of the womb, in all of their newborn glory. You get the chaos of the hospital. You see the newness on your faces. However, you also get a more styled version where you have had more sleep, and haven't just had a baby. You get images to hang on your wall, and ones to remind you of that very first days, too.
If you are an expectant mom in the Bay Area and are interested in your own Fresh 48 session, I currently offer them at Marin General in Marin County, CMPC and UCSF in San Francisco. Fresh 48s are scheduled differently than newborn sessions because they are a moving target. To book yours, contact me here with your due date. If you’d like to couple your fresh 48 with an in-home newborn session, you can book that here.